1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system power-on & power-off method, and in particular to a fast speed computer system power-on and power-off method, that is applicable when a computer system enters into a power saving mode.
2. The Prior Arts
In general, an ordinary operation state of a computer system includes a power saving mode, in addition to a normal mode implementing the operation system and various application programs. The purpose of computer system entering into hibernation is to save energy consumption on one hand, and to reduce noise of system operation on the other hand.
According to a design classification of an Advanced Configuration & Power Interface (ACPI), there are two types of hibernation for a computer system: one of them is a Suspend-To-RAM (STR) state, also referred to as an S3 state, and the other is a Spend-To-Disk (STD) state, also referred to as an S4 state. In the S3 state, the computer system only continues to provide power to a portion of volatile memory, including Frame Buffers, Main Memory, etc., and shut down power to the rest portions. There are two advantages for the S3 state: one of them is that it would be faster for the computer system to return to full speed operation; the other is for better security, when a user is operating on private and confidential data and do not want the data to be stored into a hard disk, an S3 state is utilized. The other type of hibernation is a Spend-To-Disk (STD) state, also referred to as an S4 state. In an S4 state, the data in operation are all written into a non-volatile memory for storage, and then the whole computer system is powered off, thus the advantage of S4 state is that it is more power saving.
However, the efficacy and performance of above-mentioned state S3 and state S4 of hibernation are not quite satisfactory. Since when a computer system enters into an S3 state, power still has to be provided to the volatile memory in the computer system in order to maintain a system storage state. In case that an S4 state is adopted, though it is more power saving than an S3 state, but the speed with which the computer system returns to full speed operation is much slower than that of the S3 state.
In view of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art, the present invention discloses a fast speed computer system power-on & power-off method, such that when a computer system enters into hibernation, the memory utilized can be reduced, thus raising the reaction speed and efficiency for the computer system to be re-activated into full speed operation.